Advice needed for 2 week Laos trip in May

[realmc26]

Im looking at doing a 2 week tour starting in Vientiane in Mid may.

Would appreciate some suggestions for an itinerary that would take me through Luang Prabang to the North.

What are the not to be missed places, experiences.

I will be riding solo with a rented Baja 250 and decided to rent most of my protective gear as well with the exception of my goretex Daytona boots. Not sure if I should take my own full face helmet or rent a MX helmet?
I own a street bike but have not done much off road, mainly dirt tracks, no real mud or rutted tracks.
Did a 7 day tour of Northern Thailand 20 years ago with zero riding experience so am aware of the hazards of riding in SEA.

I have bought the GT-rider map.

So....
Any suggestions for a loop from Vientiane
I am thinking of renting from Jim Oi and Remote Asia. Any experiences with these guys?

Cheers and thanks in advance,

Jimmy

 

[KTMphil]

Jimmy - Spend some time looking through the Laos trip reports sections below, you'll find numerous reports on the areas you're headed to with maps, routes, places to eat & stay. Also put Luang Prabang in as a search and lots of info will show.

Give us a report on your trip if you can, it would be interesting to see where you went.


Laos Ride Reports


Trail Riding Reports (Laos)




Jim runs a quality operation in Vientiane and can arrange a reliable bike for you.




For detail in Laos, especially trails, I don't think you'll find anyone that will argue against the below Laos printed map being the best that is currently available.


http://www.rideasia.net/motorcycle-forum/vendors/1901-laos-printed-maps.html



Good luck with your trip.

 

[Lone Rider]

Would help a bit if you could let us know how far north you want to go and what your interests are: Temples/buildings only or also other things like waterfalls, meeting people like hill tribes, etc. Like Phil said, Jim is a reliable guy and he normally will make sure that the bike you rent is tested/checked beforehand and he will often supply you with some spares, etc. so you can fix, if that is needed, the minor things like flat tyres, and so on.

With regard to maps I would go for the Gecko map - not perfect but it has many more of the smaller roads and tracks than the map you bought. Here is a quote with regard to maps from a guy who just did an 18 day trip in Laos (http://www.rideasia.net/motorcycle-...-quinns-do-northern-laos-december-2012-a.html): Back into town & everyone decides to do their own thing sort of. I go looking for a decent map. The GT Rider map I have is OK if you're only driving on the main roads but no good for back road stuff. No luck though.

 

[jschueppi]

Papermap is ok for support only

i suggest you to buy a GPS in SE prefered one is Garmin Models like Montana etc. If you start your Trip in Vientiane you should contact Don Duvall in Villa Lao Hotel Vientiane he is the MAN well known as the Midnitemaper have a look at his Website www.laosgpsmap.com i am sure it will be Eyeopening for you.
Cheers and Happy Trails

 

[realmc26]

Jimmy - Spend some time looking through the Laos trip reports sections below, you'll find numerous reports on the areas you're headed to with maps, routes, places to eat & stay. Also put Luang Prabang in as a search and lots of info will show.

Give us a report on your trip if you can, it would be interesting to see where you went.


Laos Ride Reports


Trail Riding Reports (Laos)




Jim runs a quality operation in Vientiane and can arrange a reliable bike for you.




For detail in Laos, especially trails, I don't think you'll find anyone that will argue against the below Laos printed map being the best that is currently available.


http://www.rideasia.net/motorcycle-forum/vendors/1901-laos-printed-maps.html



Good luck with your trip.

Thanks for that, will order the map as well.
cheers

 

[realmc26]

Thanks, it seems I jumped the gun buying the Gt-rider map then. Not worth taking at all?
Is it worth renting a GPS as well as a map?

Actually have looked at some maps online but I'm not really sure of how fast its possible to travel and obviously dependent on the route and type of road, weather etc.
I guess I just wanted some information on what is reqasonably achievable in 2 weeks given the time of year etc.

As far as interests, certainly waterfalls, mountain scenery, hill tribes.

thanks again

 

[The Bigfella]

Given those interests, I'd take the GPS for sure. I used it on 3 trips into Laos recently and it was great.

I had the GT-Rider paper map and the one time I tried to make sense of it, none of the roads I wanted to see were on it. They were on the GPS one.

I've given my old paper map away and bought the one Phil mentions above... the scale is much more suitable.

 

[Pounce]

One big thing to remember though, your average speed will be way less than you think, so allow at least 1 1/2 - 2 times what you estimate it will take you to get from Point A to Point B

 

[yychow0812]

Not sure what the weather in May will be like but is it likely to be the rainy season?

 

[realmc26]

One big thing to remember though, your average speed will be way less than you think, so allow at least 1 1/2 - 2 times what you estimate it will take you to get from Point A to Point B

Yes mindful of that, especially as most of my riding has been on tarmac. I guess I can only be guided by other people's ride reports.

 

[realmc26]

Not sure what the weather in May will be like but is it likely to be the rainy season?

From the rainfall charts I looked at the rainfall spikes significantly from april to may, but may has lower average rainfall than the next 3 months or so of the rainy season. I'm guessing less rainfall in the North?

 

[realmc26]

Just wondering if it was worth picking up a GPS in Bangkok. Is it likely to be much cheaper than purchasing in Australia? Any tips on an entry level unit?

Thanks for all the helpful replies so far

 

[jschueppi]

buy in Australia

if you can buy a second hand one in Australia it will be much cheaper then rent in Bkk go for Garmin they are the most common used ones here in SEA. Models like Gpsmap62 or oregon are good i use a Montana600 which is perfect but hard to find second hand cos its a new Model your Trip should be on Tarmac or you will need very good Offroadtyres cos of rainy season . By the way you can buy a GPS Map directly at the Producers Homepage you do not need to go to Chiang Mai because they are only Reseller from the Originalmapproducer.Laos GPS Map - Driven by Adventure - Highly detailed GPS Maps of Laos
Cheers and Happy Trails

 

[Lone Rider]

GPS - the prices in Australia are probably much lower then in Bangkok. Prices seem to be even lower in the US and a lot of people living here in Thailand get their GPS from the USA.

For instance, a Garmin 62S costs here in Thailand 25500 Baht (about 800 USD) while in the USA the price is about 350 USD. Much depends on what you want and/or need it for. If you are only buying it for this trip I would go for a cheap Garmin (like the Nuvi 40 or so) which costs about 4000 Baht here in Thailand (about 135 USD which includes a copy of the Thai GPS map) while in the US it costs about 115 USD. The Nuvi however is not waterproof and not really suitable for installation on a bike but you can carry it in a pocket or so.

The month of May should be the beginning of the rainy season but as the seasons are a "bit out of whack" at the moment you'll never know till you are here but it should not be very muddy yet (in 2012 the rainy season in Laos started in June or so and in May it was still very dusty).

With regard to a 2 week trip I probably would recommend that you go from Vientiane to Phonsavan (Plain of Jars), from Phonsavan to Xam Neua and Vieng Xai (caves, etc.) then from there along Rd 1C to Muang Ngoi/Nongkhiao and then to Oudomxai, Luang Nam Tha and Muang Sing (hill tribes) and from track back to Luang Prabang (temples, waterfalls, etc.) and on to Vientiane. Most of this would be on paved road - distance about 2000 km - magenta coloured line on the map.

Another option with more offroad is to go from Phonsavan to Luang Prabang from there to Hongsa then to Xayaboury, the new road to Kasy and back to Vientiane - about 1000 km magenta/gree coloured line on the map. There are ofcourse many other options so it is basically up to you. If you need more info, just ask.



Like Pounce set, your average speeds are probably quite low so travelling will take more time than what you would expect. I would advice also not to try to do to much as otherwise you will only be on the road with little time for seeing things and relaxing.

 

[realmc26]

if you can buy a second hand one in Australia it will be much cheaper then rent in Bkk go for Garmin they are the most common used ones here in SEA. Models like Gpsmap62 or oregon are good i use a Montana600 which is perfect but hard to find second hand cos its a new Model your Trip should be on Tarmac or you will need very good Offroadtyres cos of rainy season . By the way you can buy a GPS Map directly at the Producers Homepage you do not need to go to Chiang Mai because they are only Reseller from the Originalmapproducer.Laos GPS Map - Driven by Adventure - Highly detailed GPS Maps of Laos
Cheers and Happy Trails

ok, Thanks was thinking more about buying in bangkok rather than renting anyway if it was going to be quite a bit cheaper than Australia.I'll take a look here.

GPS - the prices in Australia are probably much lower then in Bangkok. Prices seem to be even lower in the US and a lot of people living here in Thailand get their GPS from the USA.

For instance, a Garmin 62S costs here in Thailand 25500 Baht (about 800 USD) while in the USA the price is about 350 USD. Much depends on what you want and/or need it for. If you are only buying it for this trip I would go for a cheap Garmin (like the Nuvi 40 or so) which costs about 4000 Baht here in Thailand (about 135 USD which includes a copy of the Thai GPS map) while in the US it costs about 115 USD. The Nuvi however is not waterproof and not really suitable for installation on a bike but you can carry it in a pocket or so.

The month of May should be the beginning of the rainy season but as the seasons are a "bit out of whack" at the moment you'll never know till you are here but it should not be very muddy yet (in 2012 the rainy season in Laos started in June or so and in May it was still very dusty).

With regard to a 2 week trip I probably would recommend that you go from Vientiane to Phonsavan (Plain of Jars), from Phonsavan to Xam Neua and Vieng Xai (caves, etc.) then from there along Rd 1C to Muang Ngoi/Nongkhiao and then to Oudomxai, Luang Nam Tha and Muang Sing (hill tribes) and from track back to Luang Prabang (temples, waterfalls, etc.) and on to Vientiane. Most of this would be on paved road - distance about 2000 km - magenta coloured line on the map.

Another option with more offroad is to go from Phonsavan to Luang Prabang from there to Hongsa then to Xayaboury, the new road to Kasy and back to Vientiane - about 1000 km magenta/gree coloured line on the map. There are ofcourse many other options so it is basically up to you. If you need more info, just ask.

View attachment 13410

Like Pounce set, your average speeds are probably quite low so travelling will take more time than what you would expect. I would advice also not to try to do to much as otherwise you will only be on the road with little time for seeing things and relaxing.

Thats great information! Gives me plenty to work from. Many thanks